Marijuana Enforcement

DENVER PUTS POT BUSTS ON COPS' BACK BURNER

Denver Initiated Question 100 (Marijuana law enforcement):

* Yes 55.5%

No 44.5%

More than half of Denver voters favored an initiative making
marijuana the city's lowest law enforcement priority.

With just a handful of ballots left to count, the measure had
captured 55 percent of the vote. The result means the mayor must
appoint a panel to monitor how marijuana cases are handled by the
police and city prosecutors and issue a report. "It appears as if it
is going to pass, and it shows there is a wealth of support around
the city," said Mason Tvert, campaign director of Safer Alternative
For Enjoyable Recreation, the group behind the initiative.

Tvert says the measure was motivated by what he says are overzealous
police who continue to cite adults for possessing under an ounce of
marijuana despite a law that allows simple pot possession in Denver.

Denver police and prosecutors say possessing marijuana still violates
state and federal laws.

A spokeswoman for Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has said that
enforcement of laws governing small amounts of marijuana is already a
low priority.

Similar initiatives passed in Seattle in 2003 and in Missoula, Mont. last year.

Seattle's marijuana panel reported that marijuana prosecutions and
arrests are down, but Seattle's city attorney says the group cannot
agree whether the initiative caused the drop.

In Missoula, the city attorney has told prosecutors in his office not
to pursue simple marijuana possession cases involving adults.

"These sorts of measures in cities and towns across the country have
an unbroken winning streak, and it's looking like that streak is
continuing, and that's a sign that voters around the country don't
want police time and effort wasted on small-time marijuana
enforcement," said Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Washington
D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, a group that contributed $30,000 to SAFER.

Last year, SAFER pushed for an initiative that would legalize
possessing small amounts of pot statewide, but it did not pass.